Bahrain's Winfred Yavi will be among seven newly crowned Olympic champions in athletics that will compete at the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala in Rome, Italy, later this month.
The meeting is part of this year’s Wanda Diamond League, and it will be held on August 30 at the 70,000-capacity Stadio Olimpico.
The Diamond League is the premier one-day meeting series under World Athletics, track and field’s international governing body. It comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in the sport and athletes vie for points at the 14 series meetings, in a bid to qualify for the two-day Diamond League Final, to be held in Brussels, Belgium on September 13 and 14.
Yavi will be running in the first women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase Diamond League race since her historic triumph at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Her participation was announced yesterday by the event’s organisers.
Yavi has competed in two other Diamond League meetings this season – the first being the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, in the US and then at the Meeting de Paris in France just prior to her Olympic campaign. She is hoping to defend her Diamond League title from last season.
The 24-year-old placed ninth in Eugene with a time of nine minutes 21.62 seconds and then won in Paris in 9:03.68. She then clocked her season’s best and a new Olympic record of 8:52.76 to win her gold medal at this year’s Games.
The other Olympic champions set to compete in Rome are Tara Davis-Woodhall of the US in the women’s long jump, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in the men’s 100m, Quincy Hall of the US in the men’s 400m, Nina Kennedy of Australia in the women’s pole vault, Hamish Kerr of New Zealand in the men’s high jump, and Masai Russell of the US in the women’s 100m hurdles.
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